Is Bottled Water A Scam?

[The_Horned_King]

YES 100% scam!

Penn and Teller did a sagment about bottled water on their showtime show "BullS_!t" it was a few years back(season 2 I believe??) Well worth the watch if you happen to find it anywhere.

Basically it talked about how many of the "big brand" bottled waters are really tap water with some chemical treatment. It also mentioned that there are certain things that a bottle can not say if it is not truely from a spring...can't remember what though.

The point was that many of the waters you see at the store are made by coke, pepsi, and the rest of 'em, and aren't anything better then you get from your home tap.

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Well, I'm a bottled water drinker, but with a twist.

I buy a case of bottled water, but then after I drink a bottle, I'll wash it out and refill it with tap water. I'll do this several times with each bottle until the case is gone, then I'll start the whole cycle over again.

Why? I dunno. Our tap water tastes fine, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. But I can't drink it from a glass. I have to drink it from a bottle.

 

[Lizzy2]

We have a built in filter on our frig. so we drink that and not straight from the tap. We also have fallen in love with Aquafina's Sparkling Flavored H2O and it has cut down on DH's soda consumption so we buy that. Our local stuff is not too bad, we brush our teeth with it and swallow a pill or whatever upstair with it. I think it depends on where you live. I know Walmart sells drinking water for about 79c. a gallon so if my local stuff was bad I would be buying it. I think it gets to be a scam when you feel you must always have a name brand like Evian or whatever.

 

[KikiFan]

YES 100% scam!

Penn and Teller did a sagment about bottled water on their showtime show "BullS_!t" it was a few years back(season 2 I believe??) Well worth the watch if you happen to find it anywhere.

Basically it talked about how many of the "big brand" bottled waters are really tap water with some chemical treatment. It also mentioned that there are certain things that a bottle can not say if it is not truely from a spring...can't remember what though.

The point was that many of the waters you see at the store are made by coke, pepsi, and the rest of 'em, and aren't anything better then you get from your home tap.

But it's not about where it comes from for me. It's about how it tastes - and there is definitely a difference in the taste. I really don't care if it's just city water as long as that horrible metalic taste is filtered out.

 

[brerrabbit]

Read the fine print on your bottle. Many of them will state that the water is from the city water supply of a large city. They run the city water through a reverse osmosis system and viola! You have bottled water. I drink it on occasion but every once in a while I think about what I am paying per gallon for it as compared to say, gas. if you figure 16 oz. waters can cost $1.29 in a convienice store which makes it $10.32 a gallon and I am paying $2.40/ gal for gas I stop drinking the bottled stuff for a while. I mean think about what it costs to buy city water, filter it put it in a bottle, and ship it to a store, and then consider what it takes to make a gallon of crude oil into a gallon of gas. Drill for it, put in millions of dollars of production infra structure, put it on a tanker ship across the Atlantic, pump it into a refinery that can represent billions of dollars in investment, crack it, ship it to a terminal, put it in a truck, take it to a station, and finally you pump it into your vehicle. And I can get gas for one fourth of the price of water? Wow!!

And the same person who screams that the big oil companies are making to much money and should be punished for excess profits are the same ones that will not live with out their bottled water. Go figure.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Correct, it is NOT necessarily where it is from.
(Some places have water that taste better.. but that is not the issue...)

It is what they put in it.

I will drink Aquafina... Yep, it is from approved city water supplies. It never claims to be 'spring water'. But, this water is filtered and treated and goes thru not one, but two, reverse osmosis treatments.

The aluminum, fluoride, chlorine, etc... that have been added are greatly reduced. Tests will show this to be true.

THAT is why I drink bottled water.

 

[froglady]

I live in FL.

1. The tap water is terrible.
2. For 75% of the time, it is room temperature, or warmer. I remember chuckling when my New England born and bred DM let the tap run so the water would be cold. Uh, no, it's not going to happen.

I tried using a Brita pitcher, but I seemed to be the only one who ever filled it, so I never had decent tasting (it was never good) water.

I really don't want to deal with having a cooler, water deliveries, etc.

I always grab a cold bottle of water from the fridge as I leave the house. So for me, it all comes down to convenience. I conserve in other areas, but I guess this is where I draw a line. We all draw it somewhere.

After all, it would conserve a ton of energy and water if we all used an old fashioned washboard or wringer to clean our clothes, (one tub for wash, one for rinse)and hung them out on the line to dry...after being sure we wear them 2 or 3 times before doing so.

 

[Anewman]

It is just convenient, my kids play sports everyday. Should I run to vending machine and pay $1.50 for Gatorade everyday X2?

I always have a case of half liter bottles in the back of the SUV(I said it) and most days I will pack a cooler for them, first thing they reach for after practice is a bottle of water.

Scam or not I would rather they drink a bottle full of "tap water" than a can of Coke.

Besides I know for a fact that when it comes to Beer and Soda, the container(can or bottle) always cost more than the contents(manufacturing costs). But nobody complains about them being scams...

 

[KikiFan]

If cost and waste are your concerns you can always fill your own jug at the various vending machines. They average .30-.35 a gallon. I spend approx $2 a week on drinking water. It's well worth it to me.

 

[DMickey28]

I buy and drink bottled water. I buy whatever the local "poland springs" brand is where I live. In the MidWest it was Ice Mountian, here it is that long Z word I can't spell!!! I buy the bottles at BJ's, $4.50 ish for 24 bottles, lots better than $1 a bottle in the vendng machine.

Our city water is literally yellow. It tastes kind of funny but not too bad but that color is horrible!!! Looks like someone forgot to flush the toliet at all times!

I agree having bottled water around means we drink less soda and I am all for that!!! I have a water cooler as well and we used to have water delievered before we moved to S. Florida. I loved it!! I haven't used the cooler since we have been here but that is b/c buying the large gallon's is very inconvient at the store, I can't lift them!!

When we move to a house or townhome again I will get the deliveries!

 

[MScott1851]

I drink it because it is convenient, not because it tastes better.

In fact, I just read somewhere the other day that Memphis has the #5 rated municipal water system in America. I wasn't surprised, I actually think the water here tastes really good. It's just easier for me to throw three or four bottles into my work bag and tote it around than to carry a cup.

I did, however receive a stern warning from my dentist. She discovered that I've been drinking bottled water almost exclusively for the past seven or eight years, and informed me that I'm getting NO fluoride from the water at all, and that may be why I've had several little pinpoint cavities, despite brushing and flossing and cutting out soda. She said my teeth were immaculate, but my enamel was soft.

So...I'm going to have to try and break the bottled water habit. A support group, anyone?

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

I drink it because it is convenient, not because it tastes better.

In fact, I just read somewhere the other day that Memphis has the #5 rated municipal water system in America. I wasn't surprised, I actually think the water here tastes really good. It's just easier for me to throw three or four bottles into my work bag and tote it around than to carry a cup.

I did, however receive a stern warning from my dentist. She discovered that I've been drinking bottled water almost exclusively for the past seven or eight years, and informed me that I'm getting NO fluoride from the water at all, and that may be why I've had several little pinpoint cavities, despite brushing and flossing and cutting out soda. She said my teeth were immaculate, but my enamel was soft.

So...I'm going to have to try and break the bottled water habit. A support group, anyone?

If you want to keep your bottled water, just buy a flouride rinse and use it daily! They sell several different types in the mouthwash section of any major store. I'm surprised your dentist didn't reccommend this.

 

[U2_rocks!]

We filter our water at our tap and it's great! We only drink bottled water when we can't get tap water, like if we're out shopping or something and get thirsty. When we plan to go on a picnic or we're doing any kind of exercise, we fill up water containers with our home tap water and take with us.

I have never found any bottled water that tasted better than our filtered tap water - some taste the same, but none better!

 

[meandtheguys2]

Our water (in town) is full of toxins. They just found a new one in the last couple of years. We buy bottled, or get spring water and bring it in from our farm. The fact that it doesn't have flouride is a bonus, as far as I am concerned.

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

We filter our water at our tap and it's great! We only drink bottled water when we can't get tap water, like if we're out shopping or something and get thirsty. When we plan to go on a picnic or we're doing any kind of exercise, we fill up water containers with our home tap water and take with us.

I have never found any bottled water that tasted better than our filtered tap water - some taste the same, but none better!

What kind of filter do you use? I'm looking for something similar. I've considered the Brita tap filter, but I'd love to know what you use.

 

[U2_rocks!]

What kind of filter do you use? I'm looking for something similar. I've considered the Brita tap filter, but I'd love to know what you use.

I believe ours is a Pur filter.

We're double filtered though - our water from the main comes into a water tank, which has a filter, then into the house. There's then a Pur filter on the kitchen pipe (under the sink). We get too many water outages here, hence the tank. And, since we live at the end of a line, we often have the lowest water pressure, and we get the sediment and rust when the water is turned back on after an outage. Our water tank filter is designed to filter out the large stuff so that it doesn't get into the tank, and the kitchen tap filter is designed to filter out the things that affect taste.

Our water is still drinkable without the filters, but it doesn't taste as good, and it is prone to sediment at times. I can definitely taste the difference between bottled water and the water at work that isn't filtered. But I still drink the tap water at work rather than spend money on bottled water.

 

[hydster]

Don't know if it's a scam but WHY do they have to put the nutrition facts on a bottle of water???????????

Water

Calories 0
Total Fat 0
Sodium 0
Total carb 0
Protein 0

Honestly if you don't know water doesn't contain calories or fat....then where do you live?

 

[KelNottAt]

I started buying bottled water after I heard about the number of germs in a sports bottle that can survive running through the dishwasher.

DH thinks bottled water is a waste, so he continues to use the sports bottles. Fine. The kids and I take the store-bought bottles to games and practices. He can deal with the hidden threat in the squirt tip of the sports bottle.

 

[Wishing on a star]

If you want to keep your bottled water, just buy a flouride rinse and use it daily! They sell several different types in the mouthwash section of any major store. I'm surprised your dentist didn't reccommend this.

Yes, that is one suggestion...

The bottom line truth is that ingested fluoride is nothing but a toxin.

If you are brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, then your teeth are NOT lacking in fluoride.

The ADA is the only last hold-out on the fluoride debate. And, now even the ADA is warning that infants should NOT have fluoride. Not even fluoridated water. (IMHO, there is a real problem when our water is treated to the point that it is not safe for our babies.) Why do you think that there is the warning about ingesting toothpaste. The fact is that fluoridated areas show NO decrease in dental caries when compared to non-fluoridated areas. In fact, some studies show quite the opposit, because too much fluoride can result in chalky-brittle teeth.

I have to run right now, but I will PM you a link when I get a minute.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I drink it because it is convenient, not because it tastes better.

In fact, I just read somewhere the other day that Memphis has the #5 rated municipal water system in America. I wasn't surprised, I actually think the water here tastes really good. It's just easier for me to throw three or four bottles into my work bag and tote it around than to carry a cup.

I did, however receive a stern warning from my dentist. She discovered that I've been drinking bottled water almost exclusively for the past seven or eight years, and informed me that I'm getting NO fluoride from the water at all, and that may be why I've had several little pinpoint cavities, despite brushing and flossing and cutting out soda. She said my teeth were immaculate, but my enamel was soft.

So...I'm going to have to try and break the bottled water habit. A support group, anyone?

I overheard my dentist telling someone that. He suggested they switch to some brand, because it had the flouride added (Dannon?). They protested, so he wrote a prescription for something and told them to brush with it once at night.

I occasionally buy a bottle of water at the gas station or something, but at home, I put tap water in a pitcher in the fridge. Works ok for me.